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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Welcome to our first Annual "Inking Pink" Blog hop. You should have made your way here from True's Blog. If that's the case then guess what... you found the finish line! If you arrived from somewhere else, you may want to head on over to Patricia's Blog and follow along. This hop will take you around the world, so please sit back with your morning coffee or evening tea and celebrate our stories and projects with us. There's lots of "Pink Candy" out there to be had. You won't want to miss your opportunity to get your hands on some of it. Be sure you leave some {{{ LOVE }}} by posting a comment on each of the wonderful girl's blogs.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It's the time when the pink ribbons come out to remind us it is time to get the "girls" checked. Like any form of cancer, breast cancer knows no age. It can strike when you least expect it. Our lives can often spin out of control and we forget to take care of ourselves. Regardless of age, it is important conduct a monthly self exam and a yearly mammogram, especially if there is a history of breast cancer in your family

Our paper crafting community spans the globe and brings all of us together under a common roof. We are grandmothers, granddaughters, mothers, daughters, aunts, sisters, best friends, wives, cyber-friends and design team teammates. Many of us have family or friends touched by breast cancer and all of us want to encourage all of you to check "The Girls"! For those of us at The Beary Scrap DT, we have recently found out that our dearest friend and alumni team mate Elise has breast cancer. In her honor, we are "hopping" in hopes of helping to spread awareness throughout the world. So, have you checked "The Girls" lately?

For my card, I chose an adorable image from Belle's 'n Whistles. I chose this image because the recipient of this card adores Elizabeth Belle's images and is known to tinker with them quite often. The picture came out a little fuzzy. I will try and take a new one in better sunlight tomorrow - it's was raining today.

My image was colored with copic markers. I used Bazzill Cardstock as my base. My DP's are from My Mind's Eye Madison Avenue collection. Oh, they are so pretty. DP edges have been distressed and inked with some Stardust Stickles applied for more sparkle - not like the paper isn't already glowing with prettiness. I added a few KaiserCraft pearls (Dollar Buys at TBS), a satin ribbon and a few mulberry paper roses.

In case you missed visiting a blog, here is a recap of all the beautiful Ladies that have participated in The First Annual Inking Pink Blog Hop for Awareness:

We have entered into the 24th hour of The "Inking Pink" Blog Hop. I am speechless at how many of you hold this cause so dearly to your hearts. The stories I heard about your triumph with any kind of cancer via comments, posts, emails and phone calls at our store have been quite touching, and tear jerking.

I am, relatively speaking, a quiet and reserved person. That is until you get to know me. Although I have never had to deal with the impact of breast cancer in my family, we have had several family members taken by cancer. Regardless of the origin, cancer is evil, it is unforgiving and it is heartbreaking.

I had lost my Mom over 5 years ago to cancer. This is very difficult for me to "put out there" so I ask you to bear with me since I don't know how my words will flow. Cancer is cancer... it is evil! My mom had become very ill. We had thought she stroke. She was hospitalized on December 13, 2004. After 5 days in the hospital, we were told she had a tumor on her brain and a spot had been found in her lungs. Both were most likely related. She was diagnosed with lung cancer on December 18, 2004 and transferred to a more prominent hospital where they could better exam her condition. This facility was almost 2 hours away from home.

Hours after her transfer we found out that she had lung cancer that had metastasized to her brain. They diagnosed her with stage 4 lung cancer. The doctors remained optimistic and gave us much hope that she would pull through. Within days, the brain tumors were "aspirated" and she was sent home to spend Christmas with us. Treatment plans were discussed and to occur after the holidays. We were told that Mom would pull through. I knew in my heart that she would not recover.

That was the last Christmas we got to spend with our Mom. She was home until New Years. Her condition worsened, she was unable to walk, talk, or even write. After repeated phone calls to her doctors and specialists without a response, our family physician had suggested Hospice Care. She was 53 years young when she passed away on January 16, 2005. Not even a month from her initial diagnosis. To young, to soon, and NOT fair.

Christmas is difficult is our household. We celebrate her life each holiday, regretting that she was taken from us. I miss my Mom. If she had been more proactive about her health, she may still be here on Earth enjoying her grandchildren. My Mom was (and still is) my best friend. I think you get the picture.

My mom was a nurse. As most people are in the medical field, she was as stubborn as can be when it came to taking care of herself. She was too busy taking care of everyone else that the one person she forgot to take care of was her. I'm trying not to get to "deep" into this story of one of my personally pasts with cancer. This is hard enough for me already. The moral of the story is... we need to take care of ourselves if we want to be there to take care of our loved ones. Breast Cancer is one of the leading causes of death among women. Any form of cancer is devastating. I MISS my Mom dearly. So do my sisters. My children never had the chance to get to know their Grammy. My youngest has never met her, but I see Mom in her eyes everyday. I wish they had because she was an amazing woman. She IS the reason why I gave up my career in the medical field. I pursued her passions in art and photography in this happy medium known today as scrapbooking and card making.

Thank you all for joining us in our Hop for Awareness. I hope that we have made an impact on you. Remember to TAKE CARE of YOU. Encourage others to do the same. After all, we can't be there take care of others if we don't take care of ourselves too. Yes, a light bulb flashed over my head. Life is too short. For goodness sake, take CARE of YOU... TA-TAS, and ALL!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Hello, Hello, Hello! The clock is ticking, it's almost here! The Pinking Ping Blog Hop for Awareness will begin tomorrow. Are you excited? I know I am. So tell me, have you done your self-exam this month??? I sure hope so.

How would you like a sneaky peeky of the candy I will be offering? Are you ready for this mouth-watering goodness? You had better grab a napkin - hehe. Don't post here now... the candy will not be available until the hop. In the meantime, you should run off and tell your friends. There is going to be lots of candy up for grabs throughout the hop. I volunteered to take the end... so you had better stick with all of us for your chance to win. Details will be posted during the hop. Aren't I a stinker?

I'll post the complete list of items with my card for blog hop. Until then, you had better grab a cloth and wipe of your computer key board. hehehehe :)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Hi Friends! We are getting ready for our big weekend liquidation sale before the move back home. At midnight Friday, we will be removing much of our inventory from the website in order to manage inventory. We will keep you up to date on the progress. Our newer inventory located in the HERE in our New Arrivals Category will remain available on the website during the weekend for ordering. Mulberry Paper and all things "Tear Bear" will be available too.

In the meantime, you all know how I love to tinker with graphics. When I can't find a stamp (usually a sentiment) suitable for a project I'm working on, I often design one that will work. I created 3 Halloween Ticket Stamps - one for each one of my children's Halloween Cards. I'm happy to share them with you. Simply click on the image to enlarge. Right click on the image and save it to your computer. I'll have have lots more of these in the future.

And now for that "technical stuff"...

Digi Images on this blog are for personal use only and may not be reproduced for resale or reproduction. You may not edit or redesign the image in any way. You may use the images for any of your handmade paper crafting projects. All rights are the sole property of yours truly. You may use the images on projects you create for challenges, contests, submissions, or handmade items you create to sell. I simply ask that you give credit where credit is due and link back to this post so others may know where it came from. ~ Thank You.

The image is in jpeg format. If you need a different format, please let me know. Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Two years ago this past August, my husband and I took thebearyscrap.com on an entirely new journey and opened The Beary Scrap Boutique in our local community. It took two months to prepare the little corner store space that we would call "Home" for The Beary Scrap. We celebrated our Grand Opening October 8, 2008.

Sadly, a struggling economy has backed us into a corner. We have been forced to make some very difficult decisions concerning the fate of our local boutique and the financial well being of our family. I am sad to say that The Beary Scrap's brick-n-mortar store located at 128 North Main Street, Shavertown, PA. is closing and we will be moving back home where it all started over 6 years ago.

Over the past few weeks, we have been running our annual "Fall Clearance Sale" that will now lead into an inventory reduction/closing sale. We simply don't have enough room to keep it all.

This weekend starts our Closing Sale at our local boutique. We have slashed prices 40% to 60% off most items. You will also receive a generous 20% off newer inventory and and inventory that we will continue to carry at thebearyscrap.com.

As a special treat this weekend, our own Beary Sweet Celebrity Susan from our Design Team will be coming in from Maryland to help. *waving at Susan* - Thanks Sweetie!

You may have a few questions about how this is going to effect our local business and our website. We have compiled a few questions and answers below. If you have a question that is not listed below, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Are you closing thebearyscrap.com?

NO, we are not closing the website. We will continue operating thebearyscrap.com as usual. We are excited to be able to bring in new inventory and add to our Beary Sweet Designs collection. We are only closing our local boutique.

How will closing effect our on-line store?

On Friday, October 22, most of our inventory will temporarily be removed from the website so we can liquidate locally and perform inventory. We strongly encourage our on-line friends to take advantage of our drastically reduced prices before Friday. Merchandise that we will continue to carry will remain on the website.

As we begin moving inventory to it's new location, we will update our website with current stock, new stock and let you in on some more of our exciting plans for new lines and products.

Will shipping my on-line order be delayed during the closing sale and move?

We do not anticipate any delays in processing on-line orders during this time.

I shop at the local boutique. Can I still get my supplies from you?

Yes! We would hope that our local patrons will continue to do business with us.

Orders may be placed with us at thebearyscrap.com. We will gladly ship your merchandise to your, or make arrangements with you for pick up. We will NOT have retail "walk-in" hours since our new location is our family's home. Our home is NOT structured or zoned as an "open to the public business". All orders will need to be placed through thebearyscrap.com or by phone.

We are still a local business. That will not change. I will work on arranging classes, or you can invite me to your crop or gathering to teach. Please allow us some time to get restructured and settled in to new location. We are excited to have this opportunity to be able to craft with you, attend local craft shows and crops.

Can I use my Rewards Card during the closing sale?

We really appreciate your loyalty. Since all merchandise is on sale, rewards cards may not be used on your purchase.

When are you closing the Local Store?

As soon as possible! The doors open at 10:00am on Friday. Merchandise is priced to liquidate this weekend. Come in early for the best selection. After this weekend we will begin packing up inventory to move home.

Susan will be joining us around noon for those of you that are eager to meet her, and I know some of you are. Personally, I'm tickled that she's coming up. She has been my support and backbone in all of this. *hugging Susan - I {heart} you!!!*

Is my rewards card valid for future purchases?

No. Since will will no longer be burdened by a vast operating expenses, we will be able to keep our prices below cost and stay competitive.

Yes. Our displays, paper trays and paper racks are only 2 years old. They are in immaculate condition. Some of them will be staying with us, but a majority of them are available for purchase. Paper Trays, Racks, and displays are on a first-come first-serve basis. You may inquire about purchasing these items after this weekend. Merchandisers will be available for pick up before our final days. The sale of these items is CASH ONLY. All sales will be final.

In closing, my family and I would like to thank each and every one of you for your patronage, support and friendship. We have met so many fabulous people over the past 2 years since opening the local boutique. I've talked to many of you personally at the store, not to mention the numerous artists we have come to know locally, from across the country and around the world. We will always be phone call away.

Before I get too teary-eyed, I personally want you to know how much I have enjoyed this journey with you. I hope our friendships will continue and grow.

For now, Dave and I feel this move is the best decision for our business, our family and our loyal customers. We are embracing this opportunity to rebuild, re-brand, and restructure in this economy. We believe everything in our lives happens for a reason and new doors of opportunity open every day. We are excited for the future and look forward to the time when we can re-open the local boutique.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Our paper crafting community spans the globe and brings all of us together under a common roof. Join me, and 21 (or more) other talented women for our first Blog Hop for Awareness that has been creatively titled "Inking Pink".

Many of us have family or friends that have been affected by breast cancer and all of us want to encourage all of you to check yourself! For those of us at The Beary Scrap DT, we have recently found out that our dearest friend and alumni team mate has Breast Cancer. In her honor, we are "hopping" in hopes of helping to spread awareness throughout the world.

The hop will start October 26 at our Hostess Patricia's blog at http://pattyandcharlie.blogspot.com/. From there you will be guided on a journey around the world to visit all the talented artists participating in this amazing event. Some of your fellow crafters along the hop are even offering blog candy! Please be sure to give a little comment of love to each and every crafter along the way.

The hop will run through October 31 to give all of you enough time to "hop" around and visit each blog.

We all hope you will join us in our hop, and most of all we all want YOU to give yourself the greatest gift and do a self-check. The more you do it, the more breast aware you will be!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Hello Friends and Happy Monday! We've been busy doing some "fall cleaning" at the shop and have put more great products on CLEARANCE. These are great products and super savings. Once these goodies are gone, they will not be returning to our inventory. Over the next several days, we'll be adding more to the list.

Be sure to check out our ***CLEARANCE*** Category for additional items we are liquidating. Items include Bo Bunny's All Stuck Up Flowers, Buttons and Brads, Bazzill In Stitchz Floss & Templates and lots lots more!